Kamen Rider Double - 100 Themes
by LoonRider
Summary: A series of oneshots based on the 100 Themes Challenge. Individual stories will contain any spoiler or rating warnings. Latest theme: 52 - Deep in Thought, in which Ryuu is caught contemplating one of the bigger decisions of his life.
1. Obsession

**So I've had the 100 Themes challenge list saved on my computer for something like seven years and only now thought of what I could do with it. Also some time ago I promised one reader there would be Double fics. I have now delivered on that promise.**

I won't be going through them in order, because doing things in order is boring. Rather, I'll be doing them as I have inspiration and sometimes using a random number generator. I'll also accept number requests and prompts within the reviews if anyone wants to suggest a theme I haven't done so far. To find the list, you'll have to search the challenge and find the most common one.

Today's theme: #71, Obsession

Spoilers: None. Takes place during the year between Begins Night and episode 1.

#

Obsessive. It was a word Philip was hearing more and more often, always aimed at himself from the mouth of his new partner. "Obsessive freak" Shotaro had called him during their first case together, when Philip had spent more time researching the effects of stress on the human psyche than worrying about their client, a girl whose life had been falling apart thanks to a stalker. "Obsessive idiot" had made an appearance later, with less venom in Shotaro's voice, when Philip had gotten so involved in researching the anatomy and behaviour of the Japanese macaque that he'd fainted in the garage.

Now, though, "obsessive" was the word in Philip's mind as he listened to Shotaro pacing back and forth on the garage's metal grates behind him. The detective's footsteps were louder than the squeaking of the dry-erase marker that was writing the latest victims' names: Renn Heigawa, and right below him, Kei Heigawa. A Fuuto train operator and his fourteen-year-old son, found dismembered, along with the front car of Renn Heigawa's train, on the tracks in the Tower rail station. Above them, the names of five other victims, in English, in Philip's even hand. Once he'd written their familial relationship, Philip straightened and turned to Shotaro. "The fact that the metal train car was cut confirms that it's the Edge Memory. It's the only cutting Memory whose blades get sharper each time they're used. So far, they've cut through people, plastic, wood, and now steel..." He let his words trail off, because Shotaro had stopped pacing and frozen at the word "people."

"Edge, huh..." They had been on this case for a week, ever since Inspector Jinno had come to them with a report from the maximum security prison outside the city limits. Tetsuya Inoue, a mass murderer serving a life sentence, had escaped and murdered two security guards. Jinno had come to them because one of the guards responsible for checking deliveries for inmates had said that a letter to Inoue had included something that looked like a USB drive.

Shotaro resumed movement in order to grab his jacket from the couch. "So does that help us any? Any new keywords to narrow down his location?"

"I'll add 'Tower Station' to the lookup and see if it reduces the books any further—where are you going?" Philip hesitated midway into picking up his book when Shotaro headed for the door.

"Back to the police station. Jin-san took some of the tapes from store security cameras around the station. I'm going to go get them so I can see if Inoue shows up on any of them." He spoke without turning around or stopping, so Philip had to cross to the other side of the garage to continue the conversation as Shotaro ascended the spiral stairs.

"You were out all day, and it's nearly dusk. The footage can wait." Shotaro's hand froze on the door handle.

"Philip. You said Edge's blades get sharper every time they're used, right?" He looked over his shoulder to catch Philip's nod, the only response the younger man could manage. Shotaro's free hand slammed down on the railing. "He just sharpened them on a _kid_! Someone handed this monster a GaiaMemory and now the whole city's being ripped apart! We're the only ones who can stop him, and until we do, everything _else_ waits!" Then he was gone, the garage door slamming with such force that Philip felt the vibrations through the grate he stood on.

Left alone, Philip raised his fingers to his chin and frowned. In the months since he'd started living with Shotaro, he'd never seen the detective like this. Sure, Shotaro was passionate, that much had been evident from minute one of their relationship, but this was different. The further they went in the Inoue case, the less Shotaro cared about... well, everything else. Philip was usually able to predict the detective's routine, but in the last week it had gone awry. Shotaro would be absent from the office for far longer than normal, getting Philip to do lookups over the phone rather than in person. Philip wasn't even sure if the man had slept or eaten in the last 24 hours.

He returned to his desk and picked up his blank book. The sooner this case was over, the better. "Begin lookup. The subject is the hiding place of Inoue Tetsuya. Keywords..."

~~~

The new keyword reduced the books some, but there were still more than two dozen shelves and no way to know where the killer was holed up. Philip leafed through several of the books, but there was no point. He left the Planet's Bookshelves and took out his Stag phone to check the time. He'd been there for nearly an hour, trying to pry out the answer he wanted without the right clues. Had Shotaro come back?

Heading for the door between the garage and office to check, Philip hesitated when a sound that definitely wasn't Shotaro reached his ears. Opening the door to hear it more clearly, he realized the sound was voices, but not from people inside the office. He stepped through and looked towards the source of the sound: the desk, where Shotaro sat with his portable DVD player open, typewriter pushed to one side.

"What are you watching?" Security footage was quickly crossed off the list of possibilities in his mind. When no answer came, he crossed the office and circled around behind Shotaro. The video was slightly off-colour, clearly not meant for DVD resolution, but it showed a police interrogation room, and the camera was aimed at the man sitting opposite of a suit-wearing officer. Philip recognized him as Tetsuya Inoue from the pictures they'd been shown. "This is...?"

Shotaro didn't look away from the screen, where the officer was asking Inoue why he'd committed the murders. "Old interrogation footage from when Inoue was first arrested."

Philip barely had his mouth open to reply when high-pitched laughter erupted from the DVD player. His eyes snapped to the screen in time to see Inoue leaning back in his chair. The laughter was coming from him. Before the killer could answer the question, Philip pushed the stop button. "Research is my job. Please don't try to understand this kind of material on your own." Upon pushing the player closed and lifting it, he noticed a manila envelope underneath. "... The case files from Inoue's previous murders?"

"Yeah. I think he had the Edge Memory before he went to prison—Hey!" Shotaro grabbed for the files, but Philip had already gathered them under the DVD player and pulled them away from the older detective.

"If the information here does lead us to Inoue, then you need to be able to fight. Double isn't as effective if your body's in bad shape." Hefting files and player alike into his arms, Philip turned back towards the garage. "Get some sleep, Shotaro. I'll add this information to the lookup tomorrow morning." He waited only long enough to hear the sigh that was Shotaro giving up before he re-entered the garage.

A few seconds were spent listening to make sure the detective didn't try to leave, and once Philip was sure that Shotaro would either go to bed or pass out as his desk (uncomfortable, but better than nothing), he carried the confiscated materials over to his work space and pushed his tools to one side to set them down. Rather than go to bed himself, he sat down on the couch and eyed the pile. It was worse than he'd thought. Getting the case files was normal, something they should have done earlier, but what good was the interrogation footage? All it did was reinforce what they already knew: Tetsuya Inoue was a madman, and they needed to stop him.

The young genius leaned back and stared at the garage's ceiling. Would Shotaro be able to keep a level head when they fought the Edge Dopant? It was Shotaro's body that was at risk if not... and if he got hurt... Philip shook his head to clear those thoughts and, foregoing even changing out of his day clothes, fell sideways on the couch.

Tucking one arm behind his head, he reached with his free hand to hit the switch for the garage's lights, plunging the giant room into darkness. He continued to stare at the ceiling as his pupils dilated to try and catch whatever light could be had, but unlike the office, the garage had no windows to brighten it. That was Tetsuya Inoue, shut down to light. That was what Shotaro was immersing himself in.

Philip was leafing through the case files at his work area when he heard the door open. He didn't bother turning as Shotaro made his way up to him with the brisk greeting, "Good, you're up."

"Of course I am." It was unusual for Shotaro to be awake so early (it was just past 7:30 in the morning), but there was no point in saying so. There was only one way to return normalcy to Double's left half.

"So is there anything in the case files we can use? Anything we don't already know?" Shotaro leaned on Philip's shoulder, forcing the younger man to shrug him off in order to stand.

"A lot of his early kills were in the north industrial district. Killers tend to start close to home, and he might've gone back to where he's most familiar." Handing the case files to Shotaro, Philip stretched out his arms to enter the Planet's Bookshelves. Once there, he went through the keywords they already had and eyed the books that remained. "Shotaro, read out the specific locations of each crime. We should be able to narrow it down."

"Alright. First one..."

While most of his attention was for the search, Philip did take note of the increasing anger in Shotaro's voice as he read each location. When the shelves and books finally retreated and left only one behind, he couldn't help but sigh in relief. "Found it." He flipped through to read the significant information, and when he opened his physical eyes again he wasn't surprised to see Shotaro, already with his jacket on, eyeing him impatiently.

"Well?"

"He stays on the move, posing as a homeless man. That's probably why we and the police are having so much trouble tracking him down." Shotaro inhaled for an outburst, but Philip kept going before the other could get a word in. "But the city's changed in the years he was in prison, so he's limiting himself to areas that still have the same layout." He crossed to one of the whiteboards to write down the names of several of Fuuto's districts. Once four were written down, he circled the second one: North Kazeguchi. "This one is most likely, based on his movements. The last three murders occurred within access of the other three, so he won't return there so soon."

"Even with it narrowed down that much, that's a big area to search." Shotaro was already headed for the door.

"The area is largely industrial. There's a Windscale warehouse that's been shut down recently, cleared out but not resold yet. Start there and in the surrounding area. He's somewhere private, still riding the last kill." Philip saw Shotaro's shoulders tense, but the older detective left the garage without another word. All Philip could do was hope Shotaro found Inoue so they could finally finish this case.

~~~

_Obsession. Noun. A compulsive or irrational preoccupation; an unhealthy fixation_.

The Planet's Bookshelves spread out before him, over three hundred thousand books summoned by that single word. Psychological studies, therapy, self-help, and hundreds upon hundreds of stories of the destruction wrought by it. The Chinese emperors and their alchemy-fueled quest for immortality, Julius Caesar's lust for power, and the vengeance-driven Captain Ahab were all among the famous examples he'd browsed. It wasn't doing much to alleviate his concerns over Shotaro's mental state.

He hadn't realized how long he'd been researching, but the appearance of the DoubleDriver around his waist pulled him back to reality, and Shotaro's thoughts through their link: _found him_!

Philip wasn't sure if Shotaro had meant to send that or not, but he put that aside to pull the Cyclone Memory from his pocket. "Ready."

**Cyclone! Joker!**

"Henshin!" The Memory vanished from his DoubleDriver, and a second later his world went dark as his consciousness followed Cyclone. He really wanted to meet whoever had designed their Driver. It was a fascinating piece of technology.

The darkness didn't last long, and soon light and colour returned as his vision merged with Shotaro's. Double was in the warehouse, and less than six feet away was Tetsuya Inoue, staring at the newly transformed warrior. "Oh... so you use Memories too?" He giggled the same, shrill noise Philip remembered from the footage, and took a Memory out of his jacket pocket.

**Edge!**

The Memory vanished into the connector on the murderer's stomach, and his body changed, growing and turning the colour of steel. His left arm was shrouded in tiny blades, while the right smoothed out into a sword. More blades covered his chest, legs and feet, while a crescent blade grew over his eyes. Philip knew that punching a body like that would be trouble, even with Double's armour.

But Shotaro was in dominant control, and Double charged forward, the Joker hand driving into the Edge Dopant's chests. Sparks and pain were the reward, and the sword hand swung up, barely missing as Double jumped backwards. Tetsuya was still laughing, and Shotaro gave a furious yell, charging in again, this time kicking while he caught Edge's sword-arm by the wrist.

_Shotaro, stop! _Philip could feel the pain inflicted on the older detective's body. They were damaging the Dopant, but Edge's blades were likewise damaging them with every blow that connected. He had to do something. Taking control of the right arm, he drew a new Memory.

**Heat!**

Shotaro didn't even pause while the right side shifted, and his next blows radiated the fire of the Heat Memory, blasting the Edge Dopant backwards for a momentary reprieve. Philip tried again to get through the fury of Shotaro's mind. _Shotaro, Joker's too risky. _Even as he spoke, he saw Edge's left arm move. The tiny blades that comprised it rose up and, with a violent slash of the limb, came flying towards them. Double ducked, but too slow, and two of the blades crashed into the Joker half of the chest, knocking them down hard.

Shotaro tried to force Double back up, but Edge's left arm was moving again. Philip took advantage of the moment, Shotaro briefly stunned by pain, and asserted his will over the other detective's. Double dived to the side, the flying blades slicing furrows into the concrete they'd been standing on a second earlier. Philip summoned as much of Heat's power as he could, and punched the right arm into the nearest interior wall of the warehouse, blasting it and the support beams inside to smithereens. Debris rained down on Double and the Edge Dopant, who turned and fled as Double's transformation unwound, leaving Shotaro with a blooming bruise under his shirt and blood on his hands and legs.

The older detective's anger burned through their mental link. _Philip! What'd you do that for!?_

Awakening on the floor of the garage, uninjured but not unshaken, Philip frowned. _Come back to the agency. We need to talk._

_Inoue's going to get away!_

_We'll find him again, but we _need_ to talk. I'm not activating the Cyclone Memory until we do._

_~~~_

It took a few more insistences from Philip before Shotaro realized the young man wasn't budging, and pretty soon Shotaro had stormed into the agency, where Philip waited in the kitchen. "Philip, you never interfere in fights! Inoue got away because of you!"

He raised his eyes from his ever-present book. "Your method of fighting wasn't working. Double was taking too much damage."

"So what? It's my body doing the fighting, not yours!" Shotaro still hadn't recovered his indoor voice, his fedora clenched in one hand, the brim jabbed towards Philip and barely an inch from his face. "It doesn't matter what happens, he needs to be stopped!"

Faster than even Shotaro could react, Philip's hand snapped up and seized his wrist. He pushed back until Shotaro's bloodied knuckles were right in his line of sight. "And this is the way to do it? Joker's armour isn't strong enough to face blades that can cut a train car! If I hadn't interfered, he could've killed you!"

Shotaro was speechless even as Philip released his arm and turned away. The fedora was set down, and Shotaro's hand moved to his chest, as if feeling the damage there for the first time. "Philip..." The younger man didn't look at him, and Shotaro couldn't bring himself to step closer. "Are you... worried about me?"

For several long seconds, Philip continued to stare at the floor. Hearing Shotaro say it brought it home: he was more than worried, he was _scared_. Shotaro was the only link he had to the outside world. Sure, he'd met some of their detective contacts, but none of them knew the truth about him. He had all the knowledge of the world, but without Shotaro, he had no way to relate to the world itself. Finally, he settled on something to say. "Double has two halves. It doesn't work with just one of us."

A few more seconds of silence, then Shotaro let out a short laugh and reached out to clasp Philip's shoulder. "That's true. Guess I've still gotta get the hang of that." His hand dropped again, picking up his hat and restoring it to its place. "So, you said you could find Inoue again?"

"I already know where he's gone. There's another likely hiding spot not far from the warehouse." Philip gave his book a little shake to make the point, but he frowned again. "We need a better plan this time. The Edge Dopant can attack both long and short range... if the long-range attack can hurt you through Joker's armour, the sword could do even more damage."

"So we need stronger armour. Metal?"

Philip nodded. "We have to keep some distance from him... Trigger's best for that, but it takes too much away from defense. Heat worked well, so our best combo for defeating him is Heat-Metal." He saw Shotaro frown, his shoulders sag. "What is it?"

"Oh, nothing." Shotaro sighed, and then he smiled. "I just haven't come up with a name for that combo's Memory Break."

~~~

The second fight, with Double's halves truly in sync, went much better, and one newly-christened Metal Branding later, Double watched from the shadows as the police took a broken-down Tetsuya Inoue back into custody. They said nothing as Shotaro undid the transformation and got on his motorcycle to return home.

Once he was back at the agency, he entered the garage to find Philip erasing all the white boards, the Inoue case materials stacked neatly on his work desk. "Eager to leave the case behind?"

"I know all I'll ever want to know about Inoue Tetsuya. There's no point lingering."

"Right, guess you have to free things up for whatever you bury your nose in next." Shotaro smiled, tapping his fingers on the case materials. "I'll take these back tomorrow." He fell silent, watching Philip erase the names of the victims and the data on the Edge Memory's abilities. "Philip..." The younger detective paused and looked back at him. Shotaro averted his gaze. "I'm sorry... for the way I acted on this case. Thanks for looking out for me."

Shotaro swore he saw Philip smile before resuming erasing. "Don't worry about it, Shotaro. One of us has to be responsible when the other gets obsessive. Right?"

After a few seconds of surprise, Shotaro laughed. That was the closest he'd heard Philip come to telling a joke. "Right."

#

Phew. Got really stuck on this one while I struggled to figure out how to write for Double given that it's two people in one. Think I got a form I like with it now. R&R! And feel free to suggest themes! =D


	2. Dreams

**And we're back with our favourite detective agency chief and police superintendent! What, did you think they'd escape my author's grasp for long?**

Spoilers: Ryuu's backstory, Ryuu and Akiko's relationship

Theme: 39 – Dreams

#

Ryuu Terui was no stranger to nightmares, even before his family's murder. It was just the sort of thing a cop had to deal with. After the murder, though, after Isaka... well, he hadn't been lying to the Nightmare Dopant when he said its inflicted sleep was the best sleep he'd had in a long time.

Now he laid in his wedding bed, just days after the happiest day of his life, after assuring his new bride that his being a Kamen Rider was for her sake as well as the city's. And the dream came for him again.

_His home was frozen, a layer of frost over every surface. His family. What had happened? Father, Mother, Haruko!_

His muscles tensed under the blankets, eyes darting wildly, desperately. He knew where the dream led, but this night, as every night, he couldn't stop it.

"_The W Memory... Ryuu...!" Father!_

"_Ryuu..." Mother!_

"_Brother..." Haruko! Why was this happening?_

"_Ryuu-kun..." _

No. That wasn't right.

_A sound like shattering glass._

No!

Ryuu's eyes snapped open. The first thing he was aware of was being restrained, an arm around his waist combining with the weight of the blankets to choke him. He thrashed, nearly fell off the bed as he forced himself to sit up, halfway into fight mode before he realized where he was. Breathing hard, he sat still for a few seconds and tried to calm down. It was just a dream, the same dream he'd had so many times... But it wasn't the same. Not this time.

"Ryuu, what's wrong?" He looked behind him to find his wife, also sitting up and rubbing at her eyes with the same hand that had been holding him a few seconds ago.

"Chief..." His voice was shaking. It was hard to force it to be steady. "It's nothing. Just a dream." He laid back down, facing her this time. From the way she was looking at him, he knew she didn't believe him, but she laid down as well, only to reach out and take his hand.

"You sure you're okay?"

He smiled, using his free hand to draw the blankets back over them. Their hands still clasped, he gently pulled her to him so he could kiss her forehead. "I'm fine. Go back to sleep, Chief. Sorry for waking you."

Her eyes remained open, concerned, for an impressive ten seconds before they closed again, and within another ten seconds she was asleep once more. He lay awake, watching over her, for a while longer. Nothing would hurt her. She was a strong woman, and he would always be there for her.

He was no stranger to nightmares, but when he finally returned to sleep, they didn't trouble him again.

#

I must say I find it refreshing to write short lil ficlets. I've had the idea for this one bubbling for a while now, but wanted to wait til the more substantial Obsession ficlet was done with.


	3. Family

**Well, so many Double fic authors seem to have their own idea of what Shotaro's home life was like, since the show gives us barely anything to show what he was like before he became Soukichi's apprentice. So, here's my take on it.**

Today's theme: #46 - Family

Spoilers: None, takes place immediately after the conclusion of the Money arc.

Content warning: Parent death

#

"Hey, Shotaro, what was your family like?"

Shotaro nearly tripped on his way back to the desk. He turned around as Philip reduced the radio's volume. "Where'd that come from all of a sudden?"

The younger detective shrugged, tucking his book under one arm. "Just curious. You've never talked about them."

That was true. After finding out that Philip knew nothing about his family, Shotaro had made an effort not to mention his own. But really, he hadn't wanted to go there anyway, and now he averted his gaze. "What, you mean you didn't look up everything about me after we met?"

"I figured you'd get mad at me if I did." Philip moved past him to sit down on the edge of the bed. "Besides, isn't it better to wait until someone's ready to talk about stuff like that? That's how friends are supposed to act."

Shotaro smiled, sitting back down at the desk, facing his partner. "I guess. There's not much to tell, really. I was born here in Fuuto. My dad was a factory worker and my mom was a nurse, but she quit her job in order to stay home and raise me."

He leaned back, watching the ceiling. His early childhood had been so happy: playing with his friends, helping his mother with cooking and shopping, waiting for his father to come home... hell, even school hadn't been that bad.

"And?" Philip's voice brought Shotaro back to reality. His partner was watching him intently, barely-restrained curiosity burning in his eyes.

Shotaro swallowed sudden emotion, leaning forward with his arms on the desk, eyes on his typewriter even though he wasn't really seeing it. "When I was ten, my dad lost his job. We didn't have a lot of savings, but Mom found out about a way to make money from an old coworker... She told us it was a clinical study, observing the effects on participants over a few months, and she'd get paid each week..." He narrowed his eyes at the past. His mother so happy to have found a way to help, his father reluctant but unable to reject the need for money, and him watching them discuss it, too young to really understand the situation.

Philip was still watching him, silent but completely attentive. Shotaro blinked, focusing back on the present. "At first it was fine. She'd be gone for a few hours two days a week, and the payment went into their account every Friday. But each time she came back looking more worn out than the last... She overslept a lot, started having mood swings, and then the appointments became three, or four times a week."

He remembered the mood swings most clearly. One minute she would be yelling at him over some chore he had forgotten to do, and the next she would be crying about being a failure as a mother. Then she would recover in seconds and be completely normal for a while... He sighed. "Eventually Dad found another job, and he tried to get Mom to quit the study, but there was still a month left, and she... she just wouldn't listen." His hands shuddered, wanted to press over his ears to block sounds that were only in his memory. He clenched his fists to still them. "That was the only time I heard my parents yelling at each other."

Philip spoke then, his voice more hesitant than Shotaro had ever heard it. "So... what happened?"

"She didn't stop. She promised us it would be fine, but..." These were the memories he most hated. The reminders of just how helpless he'd been. He pressed his right hand against his face, dragged it down as he took a deep, steadying breath. "One day, I came home from school and..." And she was lying on the floor, completely still. He'd shaken her, screamed for her, cried and cried until the neighbours had rushed over to find out what was wrong. By the time the paramedics arrived, it was too late. It had been too late since before he walked in the door.

He became aware of reality again when his whole body shuddered against the hitches in his breath. He managed to steady his breathing and his voice, but he didn't dare look at Philip. "The doctors said it was hyperthermia, her body lost the ability to regulate temperature. They tried to investigate the people behind the study, but it was a shell company and they couldn't find anyone else who was involved."

To this day, the case of his mother's suspected murder remained unsolved, and conflict of interest kept Shotaro from pursuing it himself. He finally looked back at his partner only to find himself meeting Philip's eyes, and the shock of it forced him to divert his gaze to the wall just behind the other. "I didn't know what it was back then, and neither did anyone else, but Mom… on her shoulder…" His fingers moved to the same point on himself, the small indent right beside his left shoulder and below his collarbone. "She had a Gaia Memory connector."

Philip visibly flinched, his own eyes lowering to the floor. The silence stretched for a good five seconds before he exhaled. "No wonder you were so angry when we met…" He looked up again, and Shotaro could see dozens of questions battling for expression, but the one Philip chose to voice surprised him. "What happened to your father?"

New memories flitted through the older detective's mind: the funeral, his father's anger at the police, at the study, at his mother, at himself. "He was devastated," Shotaro said at length, leaning back in the chair again. "He did his best to raise me alone, even if I didn't make it easy for him…" He smiled, a genuine warmth coming into his heart as he thought of his surviving parent. "He's doing all right now, moved out of Fuuto a few years ago, but we still talk sometimes."

Philip nodded, and again Shotaro could see him weighing his words. It was something he'd never seen Philip do in their early relationship… and hell, even now he sometimes tripped up. But now, Philip spoke slowly, softly. "Thank you for telling me."

Shotaro smiled. "Of course." He took the last page of his case report out of his typewriter, hole-punching it before adding it to the rest of the file. Standing at the shelves, he turned back to Philip. "We'll solve it eventually, Philip. The mystery of why you don't remember your family."

There was a bit of satisfaction in seeing the surprise flicker over Philip's face before the young man nodded. "I know." He smiled. "I'm pretty happy with the family I have now, though."

Shotaro grinned in return and thought, if only to himself, that he was happy with it too.

#

Really liked exploring this backstory, gotta say. I considered doing it up as a full story from child-Shotaro's perspective, but I decided I'd rather use it to fill out his relationship with Philip too. Any time I write Shotaro, this is the background I'm working with =3 That'll be important later for one of my other fics.


	4. Innocence

**Had one of my friends play the 'pick a number' game for this one. I love taking random characters, throwing kids at them, and watching the shenanigans unfold (you may have noticed this if you've been reading my Gokaiger origins series). Time for the next victim of this habit!**

Today's theme: #8 - Innocence

Spoilers: End of series, particularly about Ryuu and Akiko. Takes place quite a few years after the Double Returns movies.

#

Philip had never really had a problem with being the one to stay at the office while his friends were out doing field work. He was always willing to take care of things while they were gone, no matter how long.

But becoming a designated babysitter was _definitely_ giving him second thoughts on the whole affair.

"Uncle Philip, Uncle Philip! I'm writing a story!" Speaking of. He glanced over his shoulder from where he stood drying the dishes he'd just washed, and nearly dropped the coffee cup in his hands when his eyes caught what his young charge was up to.

Haruko Terui, five years old, had somehow pulled Shotaro's typewriter off the desk and had it plunked on the floor, where she was rather mercilessly thumping away at its keys. He had enough presence of mind to put the cup down before rushing over to pick up the antique. "Haru-chan, that's not a toy!"

She pouted, gripping her feet with both hands and rocking back and forth. "But I'm bored!" And of course the toys and books she'd brought from home had only entertained her for the first hour.

He set the typewriter back on the desk, hopefully out of her reach, and sighed. It wasn't like this was the first time Haruko had stayed at the agency, but usually Shotaro or Akiko was around to help keep her occupied while Ryuu was at work on the weekends. Just his luck, Akiko had begged to go shopping alone to find birthday presents for her daughter without Haruko knowing, and not five minutes after she'd left, Shotaro had been called out on a missing persons case. And thus was he learning that child care in theory, such that he found in the Planet's Bookshelves, was an entirely different ball game from child care in practice.

"Uncle _Philip_." The child turned his name into a drawn-out whine, and he looked at her to find her on her feet again, hands clasped and eyes wide. The look that meant she was going to ask something he couldn't say no to without a tantrum. "Can I play with the gadgets?"

He smiled. "Alright, but not with their Memories." The last time they'd let her play with the Giji Memories, she'd activated the Beetle Phone and sent it squarely into the back of her father's head, and it had taken Philip half an hour to get the Spider Shock's Memory out of the Frog Pod.

He set them out on the coffee table for her, withholding only his Stag Phone, and in less than a minute she was fully engaged in hopping the Frog Pod across imaginary lily pads so he could visit his friends Spider and Bat.

When his phone rang while the three Gadgets were welcoming Denden to the tea party, Philip felt safe enough moving to stand by the desk window to answer. "Hello?"

"Hey, Philip!" Akiko was her usual peppy self. Philip suspected half of it was because she was child-free for a while. "Is Haruko behaving?"

"There was an incident with Shotaro's typewriter, but otherwise no problems." He glanced through the barred window to make sure he was right before returning his gaze to the street outside the office. "How's the shopping trip?"

"Fine! I'm going to go home and hide these before I go see how Shotaro's doing on the case." There was a brief silence and a shuffle, and then he heard what he guessed was her car's trunk closing. "Will you be okay on your own for a while longer?"

"Sure." No sooner had the word left his mouth then he heard a sharp bang behind him. He jumped and spun, just in time to watch the Denden Sensor skitter across the floor and crash into the wall next to the garage door. He suppressed a groan. "I have to go, Aki-chan. I think she just broke Denden Sensor."

A few seconds of silence. "Okay. Good luck."

He closed the phone and returned it to his pocket. Crossing back into the living area, he frowned when he saw Haruko still sitting on the arm chair, but now with her arms crossed and lips out in a pout. "Haru-chan, you shouldn't throw them around..." He bent to pick up the Denden Sensor and examine it. It seemed undamaged. He looked back at his charge and waited for an explanation.

"Denden said something mean to Froggy!" The outburst came without her even looking up, and he realized the Frog Pod was clutched in her right hand. He raised an eyebrow, scratching his chin with one hand. A child's imagination was a strange place, but he shook his head and crouched beside the chair.

"Well, then that wasn't very nice, but neither was throwing him." She turned away from him, still sulking, and he sighed, looking down at the snail gadget in his hand. Maybe taking a page from Akiko's book would work better. He raised the Denden Sensor so he was looking at its mechanical face. "Denden, were you being mean to Frog Pod?" He turned so his ear was next to the gadget's front, though in his peripheral he watched Haruko turn back to him. After a few seconds, he turned back to talk to the gadget. "If you're sorry, you should tell Haru-chan and Frog Pod." He held the gadget out to the girl. "Haru-chan, Denden wants to apologize."

She leaned forward, watching the Denden Sensor for what seemed like a long five seconds before she looked down at the Frog Pod in her hand. She nodded after a moment, and looked back at Philip. "Froggy says he forgives him."

Philip smiled. "Good. Now, Haru-chan, can you apologize to Denden for throwing him, please?"

She reached out and took the sensor gadget, hugging it to her. "I'm sorry, Denden." She held both gadgets for a while longer before looking up at Philip. "Do you want to play with us, Uncle Philip?"

He laughed a bit. Shotaro would find this hilarious. "Sure." Maybe he'd bring out the Giji Memories and let her watch the BatShot fly around the garage.

It was well past dinner time when Shotaro, Akiko, and Ryuu returned to the agency. They found ramen take-out dishes left on the coffee table, but no sign of the two that had eaten it. Ryuu frowned. "Haruko? Philip?"

Shotaro walked across to the other side, within view of the bed in the corner, and paused. A slow grin spread over his face, and he turned back to the other two with a finger pressed to his lips, the other hand waving them towards him.

Ryuu and Akiko advanced until they could see what had Shotaro so entertained. Out like a light, Philip was stretched out on the bed. Nestled against his chest was the Terui couple's daughter, one of Philip's arms around her, and the Frog Pod and Denden Sensor clutched safely in her hands.

Shotaro was still smiling when he whispered to his friends. "See. I told you he'd do fine."

#

I think I gave myself diabetes writing this. No matter how logic-bot Philip is, I feel like, especially by the end of the show, he'd be the best babysitter for Ryuu and Akiko's kids. And of course their daughter would be named after Ryuu's lost sister. I really liked writing this. Might re-visit this whole future family thing later on.


	5. Sacrifice

**Inspiration continues, so you get a twofer! I was musing on Shroud when I hit on this idea, because her circumstances just fascinate me and I think this theme is a great word to associate with her. (PS Unseen's next chapter is coming, I promise).**

Today's theme: #57 – Sacrifice

Spoilers: End of series (episode 48), Shroud's identity. Set between episodes 48 and 49, specifically before Wakana regains consciousness.

#

She knows it's over as soon as she sees him, standing in the glade amongst the trees like he doesn't know why he came. Grief and guilt keep him from being still, his hands brushing over his slacks, eyes darting every which way. She approaches just as he seems to be ready to leave. "Were you looking for me, Hidari Shotaro?"

He jumps, spins to face her, but can only hold her gaze for a second before he resumes staring at the grass. "Yeah. I guess." His mouth is open to say more, but he closes it, presses his hand over it, inhales sharply. After a second, the hand clenches into a fist and falls back to his side. He still doesn't look at her. "I thought you'd want to know... we saved Wakana. She's unconscious, but the doctors said she'll be okay."

But there's no telling what state her mind will be in when she awakens. She buries the instant burn of hatred for Ryubee, because she knows Wakana isn't the one he really came to talk about. "And Raito?"

He flinches, whether from the name itself or the memory of the person, she can't say. It's ten long seconds of shaky breathing before he forces the words out. "Philip's gone."

Her heart clenches, but she just nods. "I see." Folding her gloved hands in front of her stomach, she bows. "Thank you, Hidari Shotaro, for fulfilling my request, and saving my son."

When he doesn't answer, she looks up again. His arms are shaking, his eyes still averted from her. A part of her heart she'd thought long buried aches at the sight. Shotaro Hidari is what she'd once hoped her children would grow up to be: strong and kind, dedicated to his own heart and to his friends. He isn't, and was never, the sort of man she'd thought could play an integral role in her plans. There's so much of Soukichi in him, even if Soukichi was much better at hiding the gentle heart that Shotaro wears like a badge.

He turns to leave, and she makes a decision. "Shotaro." The lack of his surname gets his attention, and he looks over his shoulder at her. "Soukichi would be proud of you."

As if the words are some kind of challenge, he stiffens, narrows his eyes. The anger lasts a heroic few seconds before pain replaces it and he looks at the ground again. "How do you know?"

"He was my friend, long before you were his student." That brings his eyes to her again, and this time they're full of curiosity and not a little confusion. She doesn't let him ask about her past with his mentor. "I didn't always agree with Soukichi's methods, but I did know why he used them, and I can see why he chose to teach you."

"And you think he'd be proud?" The words attempt cynicism, but she can see the shred of hope in the man's face before he looks down again.

"Believe me or not, Hidari Shotaro. That's your choice."

Silence stretches for a while, long enough that she considers leaving, but then he looks up again. "Will you visit Wakana? She's still your daughter."

That almost makes her laugh. She shakes her head. "She will not want to see me. I'll trust you to watch over her."

He nods, some of the resolve she's used to seeing in him back in his eyes. "I'll try."

When he looks down again, she leaves the glade and disappears back into the woods. She doesn't look back to watch him leave, but walks until she reaches the patch of white flowers and sits, leaning against the nearest tree. There's an ache under her bandages and clothes, a wasting that began when Terror's power surged through her and now gained a foothold with her purpose fulfilled. Perhaps she could have halted it if she'd pursued help instead of revenge, but her health is among the many sacrifices she's made.

Her oldest friend. Ryuu Terui's family, and all of Shinkuro Isaka's other victims. Her love for her husband, the love her daughters' once had for her. Her happiness. So much had been lost on the altar of revenge, set in motion the day Raito had lost his footing, and set in stone the day Ryubee had stopped seeing Raito as his son. Her life had become one sacrifice after another.

GaiaMemories were, after all, sacrifice in of themselves. Sanity for power.

She'd asked Soukichi something the day she had made the request of him to save Raito.

"_If you were me, if it were Akiko taken from you and held in that lab, would you be doing the same thing?"_

He hadn't answered, just declared that he had to get ready, and left.

Now, having met Shotaro, she wonders what the answer would have been. But she shakes her head. It doesn't matter. Raito is saved and has his peace, and she'll have hers soon enough.

#

Why is this in present tense? I dunno, it just felt right. I'm a bit bummed that Shroud didn't get more closure than those little scenes in episode 49, because her circumstances are fascinating and painful. I have a few more ideas of exploring key moments of her and Soukichi, so those might make appearances later. R&R, folks!


	6. Deep in Thought

**On a roll! Mostly because I reward myself with two episodes of Kamen Rider OOO whenever I upload something, and there's only four episodes and the movies left. This one is another product of my 'I want to write serious characters being awkward and unsure' habit.**

Today's theme: #52 – Deep in Thought

Spoilers: Akiko and Ryuu, series end. Set at some point between episode 49 and Movies Wars Core

#

Even after Museum's fall and his return, Philip didn't venture outside the office much. He still preferred learning and working in the quiet of the garage and went out solo only with encouragement.

So it was quite the miracle of timing that he happened to be in the shopping centre to catch a familiar glimpse of red leather pacing just outside a jewellery store. He tilted his head, leaving the hobby shop he'd been exploring to get a closer look.

Ryuu Terui looked painfully out of place, the knuckles of his right hand pressed under his chin and his brow furrowed in consideration. He would occasionally approach one of the display cases, eyeing one piece or another and politely declining the employees' offers of assistance. Philip couldn't help smiling to himself as he approached. "What are you doing, Terui Ryuu?"

The cop jolted, halfway into fight mode before he registered who it was. "Philip..." He cleared his throat, stepping away from the display case as if Philip hadn't just seen him looking at it. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking out new tool sets." Philip hiked a thumb towards the hobby shop he'd just left. His gaze then went to the display case Ryuu was standing next to. "And you..." It was populated by dozens of small rings, made for female hands. Most of them were gold with diamonds. Philip grinned. "You're going to propose to Aki-chan!"

Ryuu made a noise that Philip would later compare to a sputtering engine. After a frantic few seconds of looking around as if his girlfriend would spring from the woodwork, he relaxed and smiled, though avoided Philip's eyes. "I can't find the right ring." One hand scratched at the nape of his neck, his eyes once again roving the display case. "I don't know a lot about jewellery."

Philip's brows rose, joining Ryuu in eyeing the display as his fingers rested in their usual contemplation point at his chin. After a moment, he looked back at his friend. "Why should that matter? You know a lot about Aki-chan." He grabbed Ryuu's sleeve, gently pulling the superintendent closer to the case. "So if she were here, which one do you think she'd be looking at the most?"

Ryuu leaned over the display, the furrows in his brow returning, but now his eyes moved over each ring with singular purpose. Occasionally they'd dart back to one or another, but then skip along down the lines again. Philip found himself grinning again, though he did his best to hide it behind one hand. Ryuu was a serious sort of man, though a different brand of serious than Shotaro. Decisions about his job brought out the deepest severity in him, but (and this, Philip suspected, was below the superintendent's awareness) decisions about his relationship with Akiko sometimes brought out an even greater severity. Rightly so, Philip believed, because the cheerful young woman had a pair of detectives more than willing to deal reprimand to anyone who didn't consider her happiness so seriously.

He'd lost track of the minutes by the time Ryuu rose back to his full height and gestured one of the salesmen towards them. "Excuse me, could I see that one?" He pointed, and the salesman, a pinch-faced man whose hair was more gray than black, unlocked the cabinet to fetch the ring.

It was a simple thing, gold so thin it almost looked like it would break. The band was formed by twin hearts, their tips touching at the bottom and spreading out like wings, their twin tops cradling a single diamond in the nest they formed. Ryuu turned it back and forth in his fingers, and Philip leaned in to watch the light refracted by the diamond's cut. "Beautiful."

Ryuu smiled, whether at the ring or Philip's comment the young detective couldn't guess. He slid the ring over his own pinky finger, twisting it about with a small frown before looking at the salesman. "I'd like it, but it needs to be a size smaller to fit her."

"Not a problem, sir." Pinch-face smiled broadly, which would have been an appealing look for him if it weren't for the edge of a man expecting a sale. He took the ring from Ryuu. "I can re-size it in the back, if you'll wait a few minutes."

Ryuu nodded agreement, and Pinch-face slipped into the door at the store's rear. The two men crossed to the inner counter to wait, and Ryuu smiled at his younger friend. "Thanks for your help, Philip."

He tapped his chin and shrugged. "I didn't do much, but you're welcome."

They exchanged talk of the agency and Ryuu's casework until Pinch-face returned, holding the ring in one hand and its detached price tag in the other. "Is this the correct size, sir?"

Ryuu took the ring back, checking it on his pinky again. After a moment, he nodded, sliding the ring off to hand it back, but Philip frowned. He took Ryuu's wrist to stop him and leaned in to examine the ring again. Under Ryuu's puzzled frown, he looked around until he saw a balding man in the most expensive-looking suit of all the employees. "Excuse me." He waited until the man turned to him. "Are you the owner?"

Balding approached, frowning. "Yes, can I help you."

Philip plucked the ring from Ryuu's fingers, holding it out to Balding. "Are you aware that one of your employees is trying to swindle your customers with false stones?"

Pinch-face choked, sounding like a strangled goose, and Balding's eyebrows shot into where his hairline probably used to be. He whirled on Pinch-face, who in turn glared at Philip. "How dare you!" His voice had risen a decibel or two compared to his earlier sales-tone.

Philip didn't even blink. "It's obvious the stone's been switched. I'd guess this is a very pure bit of quartz. The cut's impeccable, but…" He turned the ring side to side, letting it refract the light. "It doesn't sparkle nearly the same as it did before you took it into the back room, and its reflection…" He moved the ring closer to the metal edging on the counter, showing them the stone's mirror image. "Rainbow. Real diamonds reflect in shades of gray. You took the real diamond out of its setting and replaced it with this fake one while you were adjusting the band. I admit, the speed was impressive, but you really should use a replacement that mimics diamonds better."

Ryuu and Balding were both staring at him with mouths slightly agape, and all the colour was gone from Pinch-face. After a split second in which Balding went red-faced to glare at his employee, Pinch-face dodged around the counter's edge and tried to make a break for it. Ryuu was on him before he made it two steps, spinning him around and pressing him against the counter with one arm held behind his back. Other employees and customers gasped, but Ryuu withdrew his badge from his jacket and the din quieted again.

—

What followed was a tedium Philip much preferred to avoid. Pinch-face was arrested for fraud, and Balding made a grand show of shaking Philip's hand and thanking him at least a dozen times (Philip stopped counting after ten). The store kept a record of sales and would be going through them to see if any less savvy customers had been scammed.

Ultimately, the diamond in the ring was replaced in the setting and Ryuu ended up with a discount due to the trouble and the immense help he and Philip had been. It was more than an hour later that the two of them finally exited the shopping centre, the ring safe in a black velvet box in Ryuu's inner pocket. Philip sighed, shaking his head. "That was a lot of trouble."

Ryuu chuckled. "I thought the owner was going to offer you a job." The aghast look this elicited from Philip just made the superintendent laugh again. "I guess he knew you'd refuse, though." He rested his hand over his jacket, over where the ring box rested.

Philip noticed the gesture and smiled. "Well, it ended fine anyway. Have you planned how you're going to ask her?"

The uncertain neck-scratching returned. "Not yet. I'll figure it out." They paused at an intersection, the agency and Ryuu's apartment walking distance in different directions. Ryuu eyed his friend. "Don't tell Hidari about this, okay?"

Philip nodded, smirking. "He won't find out until Aki-chan knocks the agency door down in excitement."

As it turned out, they did end up having to replace the door's upper hinge.

#

This turned out way longer than I thought it would, but I love playing the whole thing out in my head. Philip's random encyclopedia of everything is ever so useful to his friends.


End file.
